Ruby Learning Resources [WikiLists]

DanRathbun · March 30, 2016, 11:15pm

All seven of the lists below are set as wikis.

INDEX

DanRathbun · March 30, 2016, 11:20pm

PRIMERS & GUIDES

(A list of primers and introductory guides for learning Ruby.)

Ruby Language Primers

Ruby Language Primers for v 3.2 - SketchUp 2024.0+

Older SketchUp Versions (back to 2014)

Ruby Language Primers for v 2.7.2 - SketchUp 2021.1+

Ruby Language Primers for v 2.7.1 - SketchUp 2021.0

Ruby Language Primers for v 2.5.5 - SketchUp 2019.2 ... 2020.2

Ruby Language Primers for v 2.5.1 - SketchUp 2019.0 & 2019.1

Ruby Language Primers for v 2.2.4 - SketchUp 2017 ... 2018 M1

Ruby Language Primers for v 2.0.0 - SketchUp 2014 ... 2016 M2

Primer Index
- Keywords (*v1.9)
  - “using” keyword added in v2.0 (see Refinements.)
- Global Variables
- Regular Expressions
- Security
- Syntax
Ruby Standard Library Overview

Introductory Guides

About Ruby
by ruby-lang.org
37 Reasons to Love Ruby ← insecure URL
by Hal Fulton, RubyHacker.com, author of “The Ruby Way”.
Ruby in Twenty Minutes, pgs 4
by ruby-lang.org
Ruby Users Guide
by Mark Slagell, Iowa State University of Science and Technology
- http://www.math.bas.bg/bantchev/place/ruby-ug.html (alternate format by Boyko Bantchev)
Ruby From Other [Programming] Languages
by ruby-lang.org
Introduction to Ruby
by ruby-lang.org

DanRathbun · March 30, 2016, 11:20pm

BOOKS

Lists of full books for learning Ruby. (Click headings to expand lists …)

~ GENERIC RUBY BOOKS ~

( DOWNLOADABLE RUBY BOOKS )

“I Love Ruby” (latest edition)
by A.K. Karthikeyan
Link is at the bottom of the examples README, for the current dropbox location:
ilrx/README.md at master · mindaslab/ilrx · GitHub
“I Love Ruby” (2016-3-14 edition)
by A.K. Karthikeyan
** PDF
I_Love_Ruby_2016-3-14.pdf (2.1 MB)
(Posted here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3, see pg 5.)
“I Love Ruby” (2015 Beta edition - with belly dancer cover)
by A.K. Karthikeyan
** PDF
I_Love_Ruby_2015.pdf (2.3 MB)
(Posted here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3, see pg 5.)
“I Love Ruby Examples”
Git repository of all the Ruby script examples in the “I Love Ruby” book(s).
by A.K. Karthikeyan
GitHub - mindaslab/ilrx: I Love Ruby Examples
“Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide (1st Edition)”
( Written for Ruby v 1.6 )
By Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt
Copyright © 2000, Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
MS Windows CHM (Compiled Help Markup) file:
ProgrammingRuby_1stEd.zip (744.3 KB)
Released under the terms of the Open Publication License V1.0.
* NOTE: This book is also posted online. See the first item in the ONLINE section below.
“The Book of Ruby”
by Huw Collingbourne
** PDF
http://www.sapphiresteel.com/IMG/zip/book-of-ruby.zip
NOTE: Right click and choose Save link as …
OR go to https://www.sapphiresteel.com/ruby-programming/The-Book-Of-Ruby.html
AND scroll to bottom of page, then click DOWNLOAD BOOK OF RUBY link
“The Little Book of Ruby”
by Huw Collingbourne
** PDF
http://www.sapphiresteel.com/IMG/pdf/LittleBookOfRuby.pdf
http://www.sapphiresteel.com/ruby-programming/The-Book-Of-Ruby.html
“Mr. Neighborly’s Humble Little Ruby Book”
by Jeremy McAnally
** PDF
http://index-of.es/Ruby/Humble%20Little%20Ruby%20Book.pdf
** Kindle / EPUB
GitHub - chriskempson/portable-humble-little-ruby-book: Mr. Neighborly's Humble Little Ruby Book in ePub and Mobi Format
“Ruby Best Practices”
by Gregory T. Brown
** PDF
http://www.mathieu.gagnon.name/random/rbp_1-0.pdf
** ASCII Text Source
GitHub - practicingruby/rbp-book: Ruby Best Practices, by Gregory Brown
** HTML online (output from Jekyll)
Ruby Best Practices
“Extending Ruby 1.9: Writing Extensions in C”
by Dave Thomas
** PDF
https://media.pragprog.com/titles/ruby3/ext_ruby.pdf

( ONLINE RUBY BOOKS )

“Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide (1st Edition)”
( Written for Ruby v 1.6 )
By Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt
Copyright © 2000, Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
phrogz.net (framed)
ruby-doc.com (framed)
“Ruby Essentials”
by Technotopia.com
Copyright © 2012 Neil Smyth / Payload Media.
Ruby Essentials - Techotopia
both free online and paid (8.99) PDF or eBook editions
“Ruby Programming” - Wikibook
Ruby Programming - Wikibooks, open books for an open world
"Ruby (programming language)" - History, Philosophy and Overview - Wikimanuals
Ruby (programming language) - Wikipedia
“Ruby Tricks, Idiomatic Ruby, Refactorings and Best Practices”
by Franze M Jr.
Introduction | Ruby Tricks, Idiomatic Ruby, Refactorings and Best Practices
“The Bastards Book of Ruby”
by Dan Nguyen, Stanford Univ. Computational Journalism Lab
http://ruby.bastardsbook.com/
“Ruby Best Practices”
by Gregory T. Brown
Ruby Best Practices
“Ruby Hacking Guide”
The original work is Copyright © 2002 - 2004 Minero AOKI.
Translated by Vincent ISAMBART and Clifford Escobar CAOILE
under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike2.5 License
https://ruby-hacking-guide.github.io/

( PRINTED RUBY BOOKS )

“Learn to Program”
by Chris Pine
(expanded from the original tutorial)
(2nd Edition)
Learn to Program (2nd edition) by Chris Pine (out of print)
(3rd Edition)
Learn to Program, Third Edition by Chris Pine
“The Ruby Programming Language”
( Written for Ruby v 1.8, and updated for v 1.9 )
By David Flanagan and Yukihiro Matsumoto (the inventor of Ruby)
© “O’Reilly Media, Inc.”, Jan 25, 2008 - Computers - (English) 448 pages
The Ruby Programming Language: Everything You Need to Know - David Flanagan, Yukihiro Matsumoto - Google Books
“Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide (2nd Edition)”
( Written for Ruby v 1.8 )
By Dave Thomas, with Chad Fowler and Andy Hunt
Copyright © 2004,2005,The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC.
Programming Ruby (2nd edition): The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide by Dave Thomas, with Chad Fowler and Andy Hunt
“Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide (3rd Edition)”
( Written for Ruby v 1.9 )
By Dave Thomas, with Chad Fowler and Andy Hunt
Copyright © 2009, The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC.
! (out-of -print)
“Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide (4th Edition)”
( Written for Ruby v 1.9, and updated for v 2.0 )
By Dave Thomas, with Chad Fowler and Andy Hunt
© The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC., June 2013 - (English) 863 pages
Programming Ruby 1.9 & 2.0 (4th edition): The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide by Dave Thomas, with Chad Fowler and Andy Hunt

~ SKETCHUP SPECIFIC BOOKS ~

( DOWNLOADABLE SKETCHUP BOOKS)

“Automatic SketchUp”
by Matthew Scarpino, Eclipse Engineering LLC
2010
- from Google Drive
- Français translation by LE_GALL

( ONLINE SKETCHUP BOOKS )

( PRINTED SKETCHUP BOOKS )

“Construction Documents using SketchUp Pro & LayOut::
Replace traditional CAD with a new generation of 3D software (SketchUp2BIM) (Volume 1)”
by Mr. Paul James Lee
(c) 2013
Construction Documents using SketchUp Pro & LayOut: Replace traditional CAD with a new generation of 3D software (SketchUp2BIM): Lee, Mr. Paul James: 9781480099012: Amazon.com: Books
(NOTE: this is not about Ruby SketchUp programming. TODO: Move to a general book list.)

DanRathbun · March 30, 2016, 11:20pm

TUTORIALS

Lists of tutorials for learning Ruby. (Click headings to expand lists …)

~ RUBY GENERIC TUTORIALS ~

“Learning Ruby”
by Daniel Carrera, San Diego State University
(online) https://edoras.sdsu.edu/doc/ruby/
(download tarball) https://edoras.sdsu.edu/doc/ruby/learning-ruby.tar.gz
“Learn to Program, 1st Ed.”
by Chris Pine
(c) 2003-2016, Chris Pine
(online) http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/
“Ruby Study Notes”
by Satish Talim
(online) Ruby Tutorial: Ruby Study Notes - Best Ruby Guide
“Ruby Tutorial”
tutorialspoint.com
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/ruby/index.htm
“Introduction to Ruby” - 2 sections, 10 pg. (sec. III is not done.)
<< “Learning Ruby” by Daniel Carrera, replaces ruby-lang’s “Introduction to Ruby” >>
by ruby-lang.org
http://ruby-doc.org/docs/Tutorial/

VIDEO COURSES
- Ruby Programming For Beginners
  by Huw Collingbourne
  This is an entry level course for complete beginners or programmers with no previous knowledge of Ruby.
- Expert Ruby Programming - ten steps to mastery
  by Huw Collingbourne
  This is a more advanced course, based on The Book Of Ruby , that aims to take your Ruby skills to a higher level.
- Ruby in 4 Hours (No Ads)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_ispmWmdjY

~ SKETCHUP AND LAYOUT SPECIFIC API TUTORIALS ~

Official SketchUp Ruby API Tutorials and Examples - GitHub

Ruby Tutorials at SketchUcation Forums
[Tutorials Index] | sketchucation

“Edges to Rubies” is Outdated and No Longer Recommended !

Too many errors and poor programming practices promoted.

Edges to Rubies - The Complete SketchUp Tutorial
by Martin Rinehart
Redirecting...

DanRathbun · March 30, 2016, 11:21pm

REFERENCE

Lists of technical references for Ruby. (Click headings to expand lists …)

~ RUBY GENERIC REFERENCES ~

About Ruby
Ruby Keywords
Ruby QuickRef
by Ryan Davis
http://www.zenspider.com/Languages/Ruby/QuickRef.html
Ruby CookBook
by Ryan Davis
http://www.zenspider.com/Languages/Ruby/Cookbook/
Ruby-Doc Language Reference
- Core Documentation
  Documentation for Ruby 3.2 (ruby-lang.org)
- Standard Library
  Standard Library for Ruby 3.2 (ruby-lang.org)
- Ruby Bug Tracking
  https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/
- Ruby Issues
  Issues - Ruby Issue Tracking System
Management of Side-By-Side System Ruby Installs
- uru (Unleash RUby)
  SIMPLE Multi-Platform Command line tool
  Bitbucket
- RVM (Ruby enVironment Manager)
  COMPLEX OSX, *nix Command line tool
  GitHub - rvm/rvm: Ruby enVironment Manager (RVM)
RubyGems
- User Guide
  https://guides.rubygems.org/
- Blog
  https://blog.rubygems.org/
Documentation Generators
- RDoc Documentation
  - Markup
    class RDoc::Markup - Documentation for Ruby 2.1.0
  - Dictionary
    RubyDoc.info: Module: RDoc – Documentation for rdoc (2.0.0) – RubyDoc.info
- YARD
  - Features
    YARD - Features
  - Documentation
    RubyDoc.info: File: README – Documentation for yard (0.9.38) – RubyDoc.info
  - Code Repository
    GitHub - lsegal/yard: YARD is a Ruby Documentation tool. The Y stands for "Yay!"
  - Customizing YARD Templates
    Customizing YARD Templates (gnuu.org)

~ SKETCHUP AND LAYOUT SPECIFIC API REFERENCES ~

Official SketchUp API References

SketchUp and LayOut Ruby API Reference index page
- SketchUp and LayOut Ruby API - Class Index
- SketchUp and LayOut Ruby API - Method Index
- SketchUp and LayOut Issue Tracker for Ruby and C APIs
- SketchUp Extension Warehouse Developers Best Practices
  including a section on: Technical Requirements
- SketchUp Ruby API - Class Diagram
  See: (GIF image here)

API References by Sages

SketchUp Ruby API Cheatsheet by Alex Schreyer
SketchUp Plugin Checklist - by ThomThom
SketchUp Sage Resources
Units - Dealing with Units in SketchUp by ThomThom
PickHelper - Visual Guide by ThomThom
WebDialogs - The Lost Manual by ThomThom

Also see IDEAS section for specific ideas and helpers by class and category, such as:

Coding and Debugging SketchUp Extensions, C extensions for SketchUp Ruby,
Dealing with Observers, etc.

DanRathbun · March 30, 2016, 11:22pm

TEMPLATES

List of templates for programming SketchUp extensions and plugins.

DanRathbun · March 31, 2016, 4:35am

NEWS & BLOGS

Newsy or interesting happenings with Ruby and SketchUp. (Click headings to expand lists …)

~ RUBY GENERIC NEWS ~

Ruby Lang News
Practicing Ruby (Articles are listed in reverse order.)
by Gregory T. Brown, author of “Ruby Best Practices”,
and the upcoming “Programming Beyond Practices”.
https://www.practicingruby.com/
Ruby Inside
By Peter Cooper, author of “Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional”
http://www.rubyinside.com/

~ SKETCHUP RUBY SPECIFIC NEWS ~

SketchUp Developer Blog (Official) ← BROKEN LINK !
Procrastinator’s Revolt: Ruby API blog
by Thomas Thomassen (@thomthom)
Ruby API – Procrastinators Revolt!
Herosu: SketchUp Ruby blog ← BROKEN LINK !
by Rafael Rivera (@indie3d / aka renderiza at SketchUcation)
HeroSu.com is for sale | HugeDomains

~ SKETCHUP GENERAL NEWS ~

DanRathbun · March 31, 2016, 4:36am

IDEAS

Ideas for doing nifty things with Ruby and SketchUp. (Click headings to expand lists …)

~ IDEAS BY CATEGORY ~

API Documentation
- C API for SketchUp .skp files
  - SketchUp Live C API Examples
- C API for LayOut .layout files
- Ruby API for SketchUp application
- Ruby API for LayOut .layout files (runs in the SketchUp application process)
Bug and Feature Request Tracker for SketchUp C and Ruby APIs
C extensions for SketchUp Ruby
- Ruby C extension examples, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
- SketchUp Live C API Examples, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
Coding and Debugging SketchUp Extensions
- Rubocop for SketchUp, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Rubocop cops for SketchUp - test your extension code against our Extension Warehouse technical requirements and other pitfalls.
- sketchup-ruby-debugger, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Ruby API debugger for SketchUp 2014 and later.
  - RubyMine Debugger Setup
- sketchup-diagnostics, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Collects diagnostics data related to SketchUp.
- speedup, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Profiling tool for SketchUp Ruby extensions.
- Tutorials and examples for the SketchUp Ruby API, by the Developer Community
  SketchUp Ruby API Tutorials and Examples. (Work in Progress)
- testup-2, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  TestUp 2 for SketchUp - A GUI wrapper for running Minitest in SketchUp.
- Using RubyMine for SketchUp extensions, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Example of how to set up your RubyMine IDE. Describes the process of giving your IDE insight to the SketchUp Ruby API by feeding it method stubs.
- Using Visual Studio Code for SketchUp extensions, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Visual Studio Code Project for SketchUp Extension Development.

~ IDEAS FOR SPECIFIC CLASSES ~

LanguageHandler class
- Using format string parameter replacement with LanguageHandler

Sketchup::ImageRep class
- color-at-uv, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Examples of using SketchUp Ruby API’s Sketchup::ImageRep class.
Sketchup::Material class
- sketchup-colorize-algorithm, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Explanation of SketchUp’s colorization algorithm of how SketchUp colorize materials using HLS shifting or tinting.
Sketchup Observer classes
- Observer Updates and Overhaul (v2016 Release Notes)
  → In depth explanations in downloadable PDF document
- Safer SketchUp Observer Events (for SketchUp 2015 or older)
  by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Wrapper for executing model changes from observer events safely,
  in SketchUp versions prior to the 2016 overhaul.
Sketchup::PickHelper class
- PickHelper - Visual Guide, by Thomas Thomassen
UI::inputbox() module method
- Inputbox prompt strings are clipped short without apparent reason
  A discussion of inputbox layout bugs and quirks.
- Units - Dealing with Units in SketchUp, by Thomas Thomassen

UI::HtmlDialog class
- Examples, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  Examples of using SketchUp Ruby API’s UI::HtmlDialog class.
- HtmlDialog Inputbox Example, by SketchUp Extensibility Team
  UI::HtmlDialog example recreating UI.inputbox functionality in the SketchUp Ruby API.
UI::WebDialog class (Note: This is a deprecated class.)

LE_GALL · March 30, 2021, 5:48pm

Good morning, Mr. DanRathbun. I can propose to the French-speaking sketchup community, a version translated by me, in French, of the document Automatic SketchUp Creating 3-D Models in Ruby by Matthew Scarpino. I can also, with the author’s consent, update this document. I’m listening

jkoll66 · July 26, 2022, 8:10pm

Hi, I noticed the Automatic Sketchup book is quite old now. Is it still worth using? Thanks.

Vrt513 · April 22, 2024, 11:20am

Did you find any latest ones?

jkoll66 · April 22, 2024, 1:10pm

No, I haven’t found anything that is helpful.

Neil_Burkholder · December 15, 2025, 3:44pm

@DanRathbun

Almost 10 years later is this still a good list to point beginners to?

dezmo · December 15, 2025, 3:53pm

If you look at the content (and the date of last edit) of the 2nd post, you can see for yourself that it’s not “almost 10 years later”…
(Dan never sleeps. )
So the answer is: Yes.

DanRathbun · December 15, 2025, 4:43pm

Yea, I do try to keep this up to date re: Ruby version links.
And I’ll add interesting links as I find them.

Topic		Replies	Views
Beginner's SketchUp API workflow Developers	21	3325	September 14, 2021
Free Examples of many SketchUp Ruby operations Ruby API	27	13311	April 30, 2015
Ruby ruby roo Ruby API pdf , learning , reference , tutorials , books	5	1090	December 16, 2019
Basic ruby coding for SketchUp Ruby API	12	5758	February 12, 2024
Automatic SketchUp - SketchUp Scripting, Extension and Ruby Help Developers	11	6806	November 6, 2024

Ruby Learning Resources [WikiLists]

INDEX

PRIMERS & GUIDES

Ruby Language Primers

Introductory Guides

BOOKS

TUTORIALS

VIDEO COURSES

“Edges to Rubies” is Outdated and No Longer Recommended !

REFERENCE

Official SketchUp API References

API References by Sages

Also see IDEAS section for specific ideas and helpers by class and category, such as:

TEMPLATES

NEWS & BLOGS

IDEAS

API Documentation

Bug and Feature Request Tracker for SketchUp C and Ruby APIs

C extensions for SketchUp Ruby

Coding and Debugging SketchUp Extensions

`LanguageHandler class`

`Sketchup::ImageRep class`

`Sketchup::Material class`

Sketchup Observer classes

`Sketchup::PickHelper class`

`UI::inputbox() module method`

`UI::HtmlDialog class`

`UI::WebDialog class` (Note: This is a deprecated class.)

INDEX

PRIMERS & GUIDES

Ruby Language Primers

Introductory Guides

BOOKS

TUTORIALS

VIDEO COURSES

“Edges to Rubies” is Outdated and No Longer Recommended !

REFERENCE

Official SketchUp API References

API References by Sages

Also see IDEAS section for specific ideas and helpers by class and category, such as:

TEMPLATES

NEWS & BLOGS

IDEAS

API Documentation

C extensions for SketchUp Ruby

Coding and Debugging SketchUp Extensions

Sketchup Observer classes

UI::WebDialog class (Note: This is a deprecated class.)

Related topics

`UI::WebDialog class` (Note: This is a deprecated class.)